I need to vent about my medical condition
 

... so am I in the right forum?

Not really looking for much advise or anything - just an outlet.

If I'm in the right place, let me know and I'll rant away. If not, please direct me to the proper location.

go for it. i am all ears (along with at least a few dozen other people). ya never know, someone might have the same thing or know someone who does. it happens all the time around here.

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Here goes.

The source of it all? Genetic heart defect.
Joy. Nothing like being the ripe old age of 20 and being told that one night you could simply go to sleep and not wake up. That really helps me stay calm thinking that some night I might cuddle up to my girlfriend, fall asleep ... and then have her try in vain to shake me awake the next morning. Never mind that I'd be dead - the mental image brings me to tears. Shit, I feel like I'm about to start blubbering just thinking of that now.

And naturally, from that spawns two lovely side effects - absurdly low heart rate and BP. How low? Here's an idea.
At rest: 55 bpm, 102/56 BP.
Asleep: 37 bpm, 94/51 BP.

Let's keep the chain going. A low blood pressure causes me to go blind or black out if I stand up to fast. That's a great one to have at parties, let me tell you. Nothing like standing up, then crashing back to the couch fighting to remain conscious while a ring of eternal darkness closes in around your field of vision and your brain feels like it's floating out of your head.

Hell, while we're at it, let's toss in a little terrible circulation. It can be the middle of summer, a hundred degrees in the shade, and my hands will be cold to the touch. (No, I don't smoke, and I never have.)

To top it all off, let's close with some migraines. It's not the cluster headaches that kill me - it's the ocular ones. Those are the ones that feel like someone's jamming a red-hot barbed spear into your eye socket and twisting.

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Have you consulted with your doctor about all these problems?

Low blood pressure is treated more aggressively in europe than this country but *presser* agents can raise it as well as your HR, as long as its not contraindicated with your heart problem(BTW what kind of defect is it?)

Problems with circulation in the hands( a major problem in people with raynauds disease) can be helped with nitroglycerin patches or paste applied locally(taking it by mouth would only worsen the BP/HR problem)

Finally, if the occular headaches are true migraines, there are a number of excellent drugs now available to treat them.

Nobody likes taking meds, but if your doc hasn't at least made these options available to you, perhaps you should get some further opinions?

Who do you think gave me the wonderful news? :P

"Bradycardia" I believe. The leading cause is hypothyroidism, but tests turned up that I'm hyperthyroidic. So he isn't in too much of a rush to try any medications or treatments until he has a better idea of what's causing it. Most common treatment is apparently a pacemaker. As you can expect, I'm simply thrilled with that. :rolleyes:

I had a look into Raynaud's, as that was the original diagnosis until the deeper testing pulled up the heart troubles. I think it's present, but it's a result of the root problem and not existing on it's own.

Thankfully they're not very frequent, and I've pretty much isolated the triggers. It's avoiding them that's the hard part. Mostly food allergies, but the usual triggers (rapid alternating light/dark patterns, bright flash like off a passing car) are present.

I did consult a naturopath, which picked up my migraine triggers right off the bat. Far as the HR/BP problems, they couldn't offer any more advice than to keep fit and monitor my numbers.

Sorry for the venting. Had to get this off my chest, so to speak.

It's all good. Some peace comes from bitching about our ails.

Happy thought for you...... you are aware of your problem and can probably take steps to avoid an early demise. I, on the other hand, am afflicted and after a plethora of tests have found out my blood pressure is a little high but otherwise I am healthy. I have had several CAT scans 2 MRIs and countless blood tests. I one day woke up numb on the right side of my body. Nerve conduction test show no problems and as i said i am otherwise healthy. It took a while to walk properly again and the numbness has abated somewhat but I still do not know what the problem is. Not fun having stuff wrong with us but you gots to cope regardless so good luck with everything.

Sorry man, hope things go well for you.